


Sweet Adolescence

by Pangeasexual



Category: Kuroshitsuji | Black Butler
Genre: Ciel and Lizzy Don’t know each other, F/M, Fluff, It has to be teen and up because Sieglinde single handedly upped the rating, a total romcom, and I couldn’t help myself, and talking, because Sieglinde exists, but really there’s nothing but good times in this, just by existing, maybe some dramatic bits later, perverted humor, so real Ciel can’t fuck shit up, so that’s good, very safe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-18
Updated: 2019-03-10
Packaged: 2019-10-31 04:15:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 16,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17842268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pangeasexual/pseuds/Pangeasexual
Summary: Ciel Phantomhive is on a mission searching for Derrick Arden. He thought it’d be easy, but he soon finds out that school is harder than he thought.And the worst part is, some crazy blonde has taken a liking to him and won’t stop following him around!





	1. Chapter 1

“Have you got everything you need for school?” Sebastian parked the car in the street. 

“Books, map, rule book, blah blah. I’ll be fine.” Ciel stepped out of the car. 

“Will you be okay navigating on your own? It’s quite a large campus.” 

“I’ve got the map, I should be fine.” Ciel pulled the paper out of his bag. 

“Alright, I’ll have my cellphone on at all times, please feel free to leave a message if something goes wrong.” 

“Stop acting like my parent goddammit it’s really getting in my nerves!” 

Sebastian sighed. “Alright, I’ll see you in class. I’ll drop your bags off at the front office. There’s 10 minutes until the bell, try not to be late.” 

“Stop patronizing me! I won’t be late.” 

—-

(About 9 minutes later)

‘Goddammit what’s wrong with this stupid map?!’ Ciel was having trouble navigating the labyrinthian campus grounds. ‘This school was built in the Victorian era, right? The era of being way too extra.’ 

“I’m late, I’m late, I’m late, I’m late!” A voice was rapidly approaching.

Ciel turned to look in the direction of the voice. ‘Is someone talking to me?’ 

Then, suddenly, “ _Gyah!_ ” A girl knocked into him, sending both of them to the ground. 

“Ow…” He rubbed his bruised tailbone. 

“Oh dear, I’m really sorry! I didn’t mean to bump into you like that! You’re not hurt, are you?

“I’m fine.” In reality he was quite annoyed, this girl really needed to watch where she was going. The broken compact lying near them suggested that she was trying to check her appearance while running, of course she’d end up tripping over something!

“I’m glad. I would’ve felt really bad if you’d gotten hurt.” She sighed. “Looks like I scraped my knee though.” Her thigh high stockings had a small tear in them. “And my compact broke, too. How embarrassing.” 

“Honestly, watch where you’re going next time.” Ciel scolded lightly, getting up from the ground and dusting himself off. 

The girl stood up as well, smoothing out her skirt. She looked at Ciel. “I’m Elizabeth Midford, But please do call me Lizzy. I honestly wasn’t expecting someone to be running this late as well. Let’s just chalk it up to a valuable lesson in inertia, though I’m not in physics this year.” She gave an awkward laugh. She then studied Ciel’s appearance. “I haven’t seen you before, what’s your name?” 

‘Like hell am i going to chalk it up to _inertia_!’ But he chose to be polite and not speak his thoughts. “Ciel Phantomhive.” He answered. “This is my first day attending.” It occurred to him now that he could ask for directions, and maybe not humiliate himself too much by being late. Sebastian was definitely going to make fun of him for this. He gave the best fake smile that he could. “I’ve gotten a bit turned around, this campus really is large. Could you help me find my class?” 

“Sure!” Elizabeth answered gleefully. “Do you have your class schedule?” 

“Yeah.” He handed her the paper. 

“Oh! We’re in the same class!” She studied the paper a little more closely. “Looks like you’re younger than me, too.” 

“I’ve been homeschooled all my life and I tested a year above my curriculum when I took my entrance exams, so they let me skip a grade.” 

“So you’re a genius just like my other friend! I’m sure you’ll get along with her, then. Come on, I’ll show you to the front entrance!” 

—-

Ciel tried to open the doors to no avail. “Why are they locked?” 

“I forgot they do that after a certain time...you have to call the front entrance to be let in, but it takes forever.” Elizabeth sighed. 

‘Damn! Sebastian is really going to make fun of me, now!’ “Alright, let’s call them.” 

“Well, there’s a bit of a _side entrance_ that I think will be faster. I’ve taken it once, I’ll text my friend and she can help us get in.” 

Ciel raised a brow, he was curious about this side entrance, but was really willing to do anything to minimize Sebastian’s teasing. 

She took out her phone and began messaging someone. “We’re late so we should run. Come on!” She grabbed his hand and began running. 

‘The hell is up with the physical touching?!’ Ciel didn’t appreciate it in the slightest but once again took the polite route and didn’t comment. 

One thing about Ciel Phantomhive is that he was not athletic in the slightest, so she ended up more dragging him along than anything. He was a pretty slow runner and had like zero stamina. 

She made an abrupt stop when she realized they were in the right place, causing Ciel to trip and fall flat onto the ground. “Oops, sorry about that.” She felt pretty bad and tried to play it off. “Let’s just foul it on inertia again…” 

Ciel was really starting to get irritated. 

“Where the hell are we, there’s no entrance here.” He had to reign in his annoyance. 

“Right there.” She pointed to the window. 

“The window?!” ‘ _Ugh_. This goddamn girl!’ 

“It’ll be embarrassing to be really late! Just tell the teacher it was my idea, you’re new so you won’t get in trouble.” She sighed and looked up at the window. “I’ll give you a boost, come on.” 

“Hold on, I’m the male, shouldn’t I be the one to give the boost?” Ladies first and whatnot. 

“Kya! A secret boy plot to peek under my skirt?!” 

“What the?! No, fine you can give me a boost! And don’t say something that so blatantly goes against your established character!” ‘Gah…!’ 

“Hehe, thank you for taking one for the team! I’ll give you a boost and you help me up after!” ‘There’s literally no way he’s going to be able to lift me.’ She didn't want to say something like that outright, though. “Hold on, let me message my friend.” 

—-

_Bzzt_

Sieglinde received a message. 

Lizzy: I’m here! 

Sieglinde messaged back. 

Sieglinde: Fucking finally. 

She began to climb onto her desk and opened the window. “Teacher I need some fresh air, can I open the window?” 

“Don’t ask for permission while you’re already doing it!” 

Suddenly, a school bag was thrown in. Then, another. Then, a boy was thrown in. 

“ _Gyah!_ ” He fell onto the floor. ‘Once again, I’ve landed on my ass because of this girl’s clumsiness. This day couldn’t get any worse.’ 

“So nice of you to drop in.” Sebastian said, standing over him. 

‘It’s worse.’ 

“You must be Mr. Phantomhive, I know so since the only male left unpresent is one Mr. Phantomhive.” 

‘ _Ugh._ ’ “Hold on I have to help up Elizabeth—“ 

But, she was already sitting on the windowsill. “I told you to call me Lizzy.” She said with a pout. “Looks like the boost I gave you was slightly too big, sorry, you were lighter than I expected.” 

“How did you get up?” 

“The real question is how do I get down without my skirt flipping up?” 

“I gotchu fam.” Sieglinde held a censor bar in front of Elizabeth that read ‘BFFs only’. 

“Thank you!” Elizabeth hopped down. She took a look at Sebastian. “You’re not Ms. Ravenclaw, I thought she’d be our teacher this year?” 

“Ms. Ravenclaw was met with an unfortunate accident not so long ago. I’m Mr, Michaelis and I’ll be your substitute teacher, until further notice at least.” His eyes drifted to the window. “The window, hm? Whose idea was this?” Sebastian asked in the ‘teacher not pleased’ tone of voice (you know the one). 

“Mine. I’m sorry, I just didn’t want to miss more class than necessary. Please don’t get Ciel in trouble!” Lizzy apologized. 

“Well, I’ll at least applaud your ingenuity and let it slide today. Oh, but mr. Phantomhive, please don’t come to class with grass stains on your pants.” He didn’t say a word on Elizabeth’s ripped stockings or skinned knee. 

‘What’s up with the difference in treatment? He’s doing this on purpose to annoy me!’ Nevertheless, he put on his best ‘good student’ smile and said, “Alright, I’m sorry Mr. Michaelis.” 

“Mr. Phantomhive, please take your seat, Miss Midford, come see me at my desk.” 

Ciel wondered for a split second if she’d get in trouble, then stopped because he didn’t really care. 

There were two seats open, one with a girl that eerily looked like Sieglinde Sullivan, the girl he’d helped rescue from Germany, and the other with a scruffy looking boy with glasses and freckles. 

‘The hell is she doing here…?’ He walked up to Sieglinde and gave a wide smile. “Hello, I’m Ciel Phantomhive, can I sit here?” 

“Well that spot was reserved for Lizzy, so you’ll have to pay.” 

‘What? For a seat in school? That’s ridiculous!’ He instead responded with: “What do you mean ‘pay’?” 

Sieglinde gave a perverted smirk. “If you haven’t got the cash, you could always pay me back with your body.” 

Ciel felt his skin prickle with goosebumps. ‘Definitely her, all right.’ He slowly backed away from Sieglinde and towards the scruffy freckled boy. 

“Yeah, Sieglinde can be a bit much. I’m not sure how Lizzy can stand being around her.” The scruffy boy said to Ciel. “I’m McMillan, wanna sit here?” 

“Sure.” Ciel smiled and climbed into the seat. ‘He seems relatively sane, at the very least.’ 

Sieglinde waved Elizabeth over to their desk. “Hey Lizzy! Come here and let me straighten your bow, just bring your chest a little closer to me hehe.” Her eyes trailed down to Elizabeth’s leg. “Oh, shit! Your knee got skinned. Here I have some bandages in my bag…” She rummaged through her purse. 

“I’m really fine. But thanks for worrying.” Lizzy thanked. 

Class proceeded to take place soon after that. 

—-

Class was mainly just the usual, boring ‘get to know each other’ crap so very typical of first days. The bell finally rang for class to end and lunch to begin. 

Ciel was getting out of his seat when he was approached by Elizabeth. 

“Hi! I wanted to get to know you better, so I was wondering if you wanted to sit together at lunch or dinner?” 

“Oh, I was planning on sitting with McMillan today.” 

“Then how about breakfast tomorrow?” 

He didn’t want to make a terrible first impression, plus McMillan was watching and he didn’t want to break character, so he accepted. 

“Great! I’ll see you then!” Elizabeth waved and proceeded towards the dining area.

“Wow! A girl approached you on your first day!” McMillan commented excitedly. 

“Yeah…” He wasn’t sure how gender made a difference here, seeing as they were all just annoying schoolchildren. 

It’s not like it was going to become a big deal or anything, it was just breakfast after all. Or so he believed.


	2. Tiny Pirate

(Breakfast the next day) 

“Ah Ciel, there you are!” Lizzy excitedly ushered Ciel to the table she and Sieglinde were sitting at. “I’ll be right with you after I’ve gotten my plate!” She hurried away to the lunch lines, leaving Ciel and Sieglinde alone.

“Hi, I’m Ciel Phantomhive, nice to meet you.” He was trying to make it obvious that they were meant to be strangers. “What’s your name?” 

Sieglinde got the message and decided she’d play along. “Wow ‘Ciel’, huh? That a French name and I’ve only just begun to be fluent at English, so I think I’ll call you ‘Tiny Pirate’. I’m Sieglinde Sullivan, nice to meet you.” 

He became irritated but kept the fake smile on his face. “Oh, ‘Sieglinde’, huh? That’s German and I’m nowhere near fluent in German, so I’ll just call you ‘ _Rude_ ’.” 

“Oh, sassy, aren’t ya? Oh, don’t sit there. Lizzy’s probably going to want to sit in the middle.” Ciel sat one seat away. “So you’re attending school now?” 

“Yes and be sure to act as if we’re perfect strangers.” 

“I know, I know. Your butler told me when he first saw me in the classroom. You’ve gotten really smiley since we last saw each other y’know?” 

“Shut up, I have to be nice for the investigation.” He blushed, having someone who knew him here made things awkward. 

“I’m back!” Lizzy walked back over with a tray of food, sitting in the chair next to Ciel. “Did you two get acquainted while I was gone?” 

“Yeah, we did! This is Ciel, but he prefers to go by ‘Tiny Pirate’.” Sieglinde grinned. 

Ciel choked on his food. 

“Sieglinde! Be nice!” Lizzy scolded lightly. 

“Feel free to plunder me anytime you want, Tiny, my body is always ready.” Sieglinde winked. 

Ciel nearly spit out his food. 

“Sieglinde!” Lizzy bopped Sieglinde over the head lightly. “Say sorry.” 

“Sorry…” Sieglinde grumbled. “Shouldn’t you be calling me Sully-chan anyway?” 

“Sieglinde! Don’t bring that stuff up in school!” Elizabeth said in a hushed tone. “Anyway I thought you didn’t have a problem with it!”

“I don’t care if you keep the honorific, you weaboo trash, but at least don’t use my surname like we’re strangers! I thought we were besties!” Sieglinde huffed. 

“Is that seriously why you’re angry? Ugh, how about Sie-chan, then?” 

“It’s a little better.” 

Elizabeth composed herself and turned back to Ciel. “Sorry, Ciel. Sieglinde has a very unique sense of humor.” 

“I’m fine…” Ciel was shaking with annoyance but tried to keep it in. “Absolutely fine.” 

Lizzy noticed, but chose not to comment. “Anyway, I’m excited to spend all homeroom showing you around campus!” 

“Eh—what?” 

“Didn’t Mr. Michaelis tell you? Yesterday he called me to his desk to ask me to show you around campus during homeroom.” 

‘That bastard…!’ “Oh, alright. I’ll look forward to it…” Ciel answered with a smile. ‘This’ll be a long morning.’ 

“What a nice, wide smile you’ve got there, Ciel.” Sieglinde grinned. Lizzy looked slightly confused at the strange comment. 

‘ _Tch!_ What in the hell does she think she’s doing?!’ “Thank you.” He replied. 

“Ciel was does have a very lovely smile! And his face is so cute too, ah!” She grabbed his arm and hugged it. 

‘Get off, get off, get off, _get off_. She let go. Ciel’s face was beet red. ‘What’s up with this girl and physical touching?!’ “Thank you—erm—people don’t usually call me cute…” ‘Because who would say something so embarrassing?!’

“Really?! But you’re so adorable! You have such a pretty face, you know!” 

“Th-Thanks.” 

Breakfast went on rather uneventfully, and finally it was time for homeroom. Also meaning it was time for Lizzy to walk Ciel all over campus to show him around. 

She led him through the halls by the hand, much to Ciel’s chagrin. 

“And over here is the commons room. This is most of us spend our free time and socialize.” It was currently empty. “You’re also free to eat lunch here.” She led him a classroom over. “Here’s the tutoring room. You can come here after school is over to get help with homework or study for exams.”

She led him to the library. “Here’s the library. There’s tons of wonderful books here, fiction and nonfiction! You can also come here for a quiet place to study with friends. That concludes our tour of blue house!” She looked at him and smiled. 

‘Thank god!’ “Thanks, this was all very useful information. Should we go back to homeroom now?” 

“Oh—now I was going to show you the other houses and tell you a little more about Weston.” 

“Eh? The other houses? Are we allowed to?” 

“After school hours you’re free to roam, but people generally don’t since the houses can get pretty competitive with one another. I’ll show you green house first, come on!” 

She decided to tell him a little about Weston while they were walking. “Weston is a co-Ed partial boarding school—which just means we’re allowed home on weekends—that specializes in college and future preparation. As members of high society we have some serious expectations placed on us. Since it specializes in future preparation, we all have our own responsibilities as students that would normally be taken care of by staff at other schools. We all clean up the mess hall and classrooms after hours, you’ll probably be assigned a day for cleaning duty soon.” 

‘This girl seems silly, but she’s fairly knowledgeable about this school. She may prove useful.’ Ciel noted. 

“This part may seem obvious, but girls and boys have different dorms. Oh—you can’t walk there.” 

Ciel paused to look at Lizzy. 

“We’re not allowed on the lawns. Only prefects can walk on the lawns without getting punished.” She explained. 

“Prefects?” 

“They’re the students with the highest grades in the houses. For blue house it’s the student with the highest academics, for green house the highest physical prowess, for red house the most prestigious, and for purple house the most talented in the arts.” Elizabeth explained. 

“I see.” 

“Oi! You there! You’re from blue house, get off our territory!” A couple boys yelled at them. 

“Lizzy I don’t think we’re allowed to be here. We should go.” Ciel said. 

“He’s new here so I’m showing him around campus. I’m aware it’s still school hours, but it was on my teacher’s instructions so I’m sure an exception can be made.” Elizabeth explained. 

“It’s still our territory, get out—“ 

“Oi, shut up! Don’t you know who that is?!” One boy whispered to the other. 

“A couple kids from blue house!” The other responded. 

“That’s Edward Midford’s sister!” 

“Oh god, is it?” 

“Yeah and one word from her and we’re dead! And I don’t really feel like dying today!” 

The other boy agreed and they composed themselves. “Alright, you can go.” 

Ciel was very confused at their sudden change in attitude. 

It was then the two boys noticed that Ciel and Lizzy were holding hands. They were shocked and felt great sympathy for Ciel. “Get away while you still can!” One whispered to Ciel. 

“Eh—?” 

“Come on Ciel!” She led him to green house. 

They encountered similar problems with the other houses, but each time was dismissed once Elizabeth had been identified. 

After the tour of the four houses, they went back, and made it just in time for class to begin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Damn right I’m making Lizzy an otaku because she called Sieglinde sully-chan once. Because comedy. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	3. Overprotective Brother

It was dinner time and Elizabeth had dragged Ciel to sit with her once again. They decided on a schedule:

Breakfast with McMillan. 

Lunch with Elizabeth. 

Dinner with Sieglinde. 

Which was a clever trick on Elizabeth’s part to get two meals with Ciel, since her and Sieglinde always sat together. 

Unfortunately for Ciel, Elizabeth had become interested in him. And there was no end to her curiosity once piqued. 

“Dinner is served in a separate, larger dining hall that includes all four houses. Though, usually the houses don’t intermingle. Like I said earlier, they can get very competitive.” Elizabeth explained. “But I want to introduce you to my brother, so I’ll show you to the prefect’s fag’s table! I visit all the time so there shouldn’t be a problem.” 

Sieglinde choked a bit on her food. 

Sieglinde was trying to tell him something but kept coughing on her food. “Ciel wait—“

“Let’s go!” Lizzy grabbed his hand. 

“Alright.” 

Ciel allowed the annoying girl to lead him by the hand to another table. 

The table they were headed to was the one shared by the prefect’s fag’s. They were one of the two tables in which houses intermingled, along with the prefect’s table. 

As soon as a very goth-y dressed boy caught sight of the two of them, or more specifically their intertwined hands, he burst out into uncontrollable laughter.

“ _Bwahahahahahaha!!_ ” He seriously couldn’t breathe. 

“Cheslock, what’s so funny?” The blonde boy sitting across from him asked. 

“Your sister came to visit! Just look behind you!” He suppressed giggles. 

The boy turned around with a wide smile, expecting to see with lovely, perfect, adorable sister. 

Instead he saw some boy holding her hand. 

“Edward! I wanted to introduce you to my new friend!” 

Ciel took that as a cue to begin introducing himself. “Hello, I’m Ciel Phantom—“ 

And suddenly, he was in the air. The boy was holding him up by the collar of his shirt. 

“E-Eh?!” He thrashed around a bit in confusion. ‘What in the name of hell…?!’ 

“How dare you hold my pure, precious sister’s hand!” The boy yelled with tears in his eyes. 

Dear god this was it. This was how he died. Because some over-protective older brother got annoyed at something he didn’t even do. 

But the thing is, he didn’t want to hold her hand in the first place! 

Actually, wait, fuck this he wasn’t just going to sit around and get murdered for something that wasn’t his fault!

“Excuse me, but she’s the one that’s been grabbing my hand this whole time!” He proclaimed irately. 

“How dare you make up such treacherous lies!” 

“No, Edward, he’s right! I just like holding hands! Ciel didn’t do anything wrong!” 

“Why would you engage in such an act with a boy!”

“Midford! What’s the meaning of this?” A largely built student from greenhouse approached. “Fighting is strictly prohibited from school grounds.” 

“I saw this boy holding my sister’s hand—!” 

“Put me down!” Ciel kicked his legs futilely. 

“That’s no reason to—“ 

“Please let me do the scolding please.” Elizabeth informed the surprised prefect. She turned to her brother. “Edward Midford put him down this instant!” 

“But Lizzy—!” 

“ _Now!_ ” Edward finally released Ciel to the ground. “I expect a sincere apology from you. That was a very rude thing you just did!” Elizabeth scolded. 

Edward begrudgingly turned to Ciel. “S-Sorry.” 

“Good.” 

“Lizzy, how could you hold hands with a boy?!” 

“Boys, girls, it’s all the same! I just like holding hands. I hold Sieglinde’s hand all the time and you’ve never said a word.”

“Because she’s a girl! It’s different! Men are all wolves, Lizzy, you can’t trust them so easily!” 

“If you’re really concerned about that type of a thing, then Sieglinde is _much_ more concerning a friend than Ciel.” 

‘You said it.’ Ciel agreed silently. 

Lizzy turned to Ciel apologetically. “I’m terribly sorry, Ciel. I wouldn’t have introduced you if I’d known such a thing would happen.” 

‘Shouldn’t you know your brother a little better?!’ But instead he said: “I wasn’t hurt, so it’s okay.” His eye twitched in irritation, however. 

Elizabeth ignored it. “Alright. Let’s go back to our table and finish dinner.” Lizzy grabbed his hand and began to lead him back to their table. 

‘Seriously? The hand again? Has she learned _nothing_ from this?’ He facepalmed with his free hand. 

They sat down back at the table. 

“The Tiny Pirate’s still alive!” Sieglinde exclaimed, sounding genuinely surprised. 

“ _Kh!_ ” Ciel gritted his teeth but tried to stay calm. He was, to say the least, extremely annoyed. 

“Ciel are you sure you’re alright?” Elizabeth asked, worriedly. 

“I’m absolutely fine.” He tried to reassure. At this point, Ciel just wanted to go back to his investigation and not have to worry about silly girls and their overprotective brothers. 

But alas, dinner was still a little over a half hour from being finished. 

“How’re you liking Weston so far?” Elizabeth tried to change the subject and break the slightly awkward tension. 

“It’s a pretty nice school, I suppose.” ‘Full of silly schoolchildren, difficult to navigate, has too many rules…’ “I’ve been homeschooled all my life so I didn’t really know what to expect.” 

“I hope you’ll like it here. It’s got a really lovely campus and the food they serve is pretty good. Most of the people I’ve met so far are pretty nice and there’s a lot of opportunities to socialize. The courses are tough but that’s just because we’re in blue house. Overall I think you’ll have a good time here.” 

“That’s good.” 

“Hey Ciel, are you planning on becoming anyone’s fag?” Sieglinde asked. 

“Fag?” 

“It's a tradition peculiar to Weston. It’s like a sibling relationship with an upperclassman. You basically help them with their chores like washing their uniforms or cleaning their rooms. You serve them tea and prepare them water bottles in the evening.” 

“You’re to play their butler, essentially.” ‘How irritating.’ 

“Not quite, the upperclassman helps their fag as well.” 

“You’re a second year right? Do you have a fag?” Ciel asked Elizabeth. 

“Me.” Sieglinde said with a tinge of pride.

“Really?!” ‘Sieglinde is tamed enough to help with chores?’ 

“Yep. I’m Lizzy’s fag.” 

“She helps me do my laundry, organize my books, and study or do homework. In return, I help her make friends, do her English homework, help her shower since she can’t stand on her own, and give her beauty tips.” 

“And you’re a fag, too?” 

“I’m the fag of one of Bluewer’s, our blue house prefect’s, younger sisters.” 

“Essentially, I’m going to need to find an upperclassman.” 

“Basically.” Sieglinde chirped. ‘It’ll be funny seeing Ciel do chores.’ She thought to herself. 

Dinner went on quite casually after that and ended without further problem.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lizzy can be pretty fierce when she’s giving a lecture. She’s like Frances in that respect lol. The nice thing about fanficiton is that i can write in while in sick in bed from my phone. I hope I’m doing an okay job. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

It was breakfast time and Ciel was slightly glad to be away from Elizabeth and Sieglinde. He was able to relax with the rather tame McMillan. 

McMillan had given him some more information on the prefect’s and their fags. As well as the school rules. It was later into breakfast that he finally asked about Derrick Arden. 

“Do you happen to know Derrick Arden, son of Duke Clemens?” Ciel asked. “I believe he’s a student of Scarlet fox house…” 

People all around them began whispering. 

“Ph-Phantomhive!! You’ll alienate your fellows if you fraternize too much with people from other houses!” McMillan whispered frantically. 

“Hunh? The petty rivalries that women tend to engage in?” Ciel asked. 

“It’s ‘cos the houses often face off against each other in various competitions.” McMillan explained. “Anyway…if I’m not mistaken, Arden was to have been transferred from red house to purple house as a special case, but…”

“Transferred?” 

“I don’t know the details, but rumor has it that it was under the Headmaster’s orders. I-In any case!! You’re better off keeping your nose out of the other houses’ business!! Especially Violet Wolf house.” 

“What do you mean by—“ 

“McMillan! It’s fag time!” An older boy called to them. 

“This is my upperclassman. I’ll be seeing you, Phantomhive!” McMillan made a silly pose then left. 

‘What was with that pose…?’ He thought. ‘That aside, he said Derrick’s house assignment has been changed? There’s definitely more to it.’

After breakfast he’d been made to clean up the dining hall by Clayton, which he, of course, just used Sebastian for. 

He went for a walk to purple house and was met with an eccentric exterior and major gatekeeping. They pelted him with rocks until he left. He was surprised, since Lizzy had just given him a tour of purple house the other day. 

Sebastian, having done his job too well, led him to receive a reputation for being good at household chores. He’d also curried the favor of Clayton with his “abilities”. He also copied that silly pose McMillan made. 

Ciel received many chores from Clayton during the day and was having Sebastian take care of them for him. 

—-

Now it was lunch time yet again. 

“Wow Ciel, you certainly have made a name for yourself among the students!” Lizzy admired him for his great skill. 

“I’m glad I’ve made a good impression.” Ciel replied. 

“An impossibly good impression.” Sieglinde mumbled and Ciel shot her a glare. 

“Housekeeping was a hobby of mine so I’m pretty practiced at it.” 

Sieglinde has to hold her hand over her mouth to stop herself from laughing. 

“Stop it, Sieglinde, there’s nothing wrong with a boy liking housework.” Elizabeth scolded. 

“I know, I know.” ‘It’s only funny because it’s Ciel.’ 

“It is a rather odd hobby for a person of my status, so I understand the surprise.” 

“Yeah. You rich folk usually have _butlers_ don’t you?” Sieglinde took another bite of food. 

Ciel glared at Sieglinde once again. 

Elizabeth noticed all this, and the tension surrounding Ciel and Sieglinde. She wondered if there was something she was missing, but decided to ignore it as ‘not her business’. “I find Ciel very admirable for enjoying housework. I detest cleaning my room and doing chores so it’s really special to enjoy those things.” 

“Ah, thanks.” Ciel replied. 

Ciel decided to ask Lizzy about what happened with purple house. “I went over to purple house to visit a childhood friend of mine, but they pelted me with rocks until I left. Why’d they let you show me around the place the other day?” 

“Ehhh, I’m sorry that happened to you. I’ve heard of that type of thing happening but I’ve never had an issue with it.” 

“It’s because they value their lives. If they pelted Lizzy with rocks they’d have to face Edward’s wrath” Sieglinde whispered to him. 

‘That scary chap…? I suppose it’s understandable in that case.’ He turned to Lizzy. ‘So this girl literally is walking repellent of gatekeeping? That’s good to know.’ 

Lunch went on quite normally after that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some scenes will be taken directly from the manga btw, like the scene with McMillan. It’ll follow the Weston arc pretty closely then diverge more as things go along. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	6. Alienated

“Ph-Ph-Phantomhive! Cole’s sent for you!” A boy yelled at Ciel. 

“Ehh?! As in Maurice Cole?!” McMillan asked, stunned. 

“Hunh? Who’s that?” Ciel asked. 

“Maurice Cole, fag to the prefect of Scarlet Fox house! Don’t you know this?!” The boy explained. “He’s the most beautiful boy in this school!! How’d you get acquainted with him?” 

“No, I’ve never even met him. Why are you getting so worked up over a pretty boy?”

“Never mind! Just go quick!” McMillan and the boy shoved him. 

“O-Okay!” 

Ciel was pushed into an empty hallway 

It was there he met Maurice Cole and received an invitation to go to the swan gazebo at 4pm the next day. Of course, he accepted. 

He was met with a big shock the next day, however, when he found he was two hours late to the actual appointment. 

Maurice had lied to him and told him 4pm instead of 2pm. 

He also met Edward once again, whose opinion of Ciel had lowered even more than it already was. 

They theorized that Cole was resorting to dirty tricks (*cough* like Ciel *cough*) and Ciel sent Sebastian to investigate his daily behaviors, as well as find Cole’s other victims. 

He was ousted for having skipped out on a p4 meeting and much gossip about him was flying around. 

He wasn’t expecting Elizabeth and Sieglinde to sit by him at lunch today, but they still came. 

“Hi Ciel!” Elizabeth greeted. 

“You shouldn’t sit by me today. You might get talked about.” Ciel warned. McMillan didn’t sit by him at breakfast that day, and he assumed avoiding gossip was the reason. 

“Oh that’s okay, anyone watching would just assume I’m doing it out of pity or something. I have a reputation for being nice.” 

The explanation irked him slightly. “And why would they assume that?”

“That’s what they all assumed with Sieglinde, anyway.” 

‘Makes sense.’ “Anyway, why aren’t you outcasting me?” 

“Well, I don’t really know the full story. I don’t think I should outcast a friend so quickly.” Elizabeth explained. 

“Yeah! Tiny Pirate is our friend! Even if he skipped out on a p4 meeting!” Sieglinde chirped. 

“What happened with that anyway?” Elizabeth asked. 

“I was told to go at 4pm but my appointment was actually at 2pm.” 

“What?! So you were tricked?!” 

“Yes.” Ciel affirmed. 

“Tiny Pirate got had.” Sieglinde shoveled a bite of food into her mouth. 

Ciel turned to her. “I only wore that eyepatch for the first day. Now I’m wearing this white one. Why’re you still calling me that?” He wasn’t able to tie the black eyepatch on his own, so he had to switch to a square white one. 

“Is a pirate without his pirate patch still a pirate? That’s a tricky riddle.” Sieglinde joked. 

“ _Ugh._ ”

“Have you thought about explaining yourself?” Elizabeth asked. 

“Well, I did break an appointment. And something tells me they’d just chalk it up to excuses.” Ciel paused. “So you’re brother is the fag of a prefect?” 

“Yes! He’s prefect Greenhill’s fag in green house.” 

“He hates me even more now.” 

“I could talk to him for you?” 

“Don’t bother, I’ll get this misunderstanding fixed on my own.” 

“I see. I wish you the best of luck, then.” Elizabeth smiled at him. 

Things went on normally until they heard some whispering. 

_“Why’s Lizzy always sitting with that kid?” One girl whispered to another._

_“Didn’t he blow off the prefect’s?”_

_“Do you think she has a crush on him? He’s got a cute face.”_

_“Maybe she just feels bad for him.”_

Ciel turned to Elizabeth. “Do you regret sitting with me yet?” 

Elizabeth didn’t answer. She was not pleased. 

“If you’re going to gossip, so it in a place we can’t hear!” She told them. 

They looked embarrassed at being caught and scurried away. 

“You really didn’t have to do that.” 

“Who would I be if I didn’t stick up for a friend? Anyway, I was being gossiped about, too.” She smiled. “Plus they really should be a bit more discreet about it.” 

Later that night Ciel discussed plans for Maurice Cole with Sebastian. 

They discussed Maurice’s other victims, and that he’d been using outside help. 

Ciel soon found that he needed more information of Maurice. 

He groaned. “I need another pawn in red house, where Maurice resides. And let’s not forget it was Derrick’s house as well.” 

“However, I cannot recommend creating another vacancy by force. Especially in such a short time.” Sebastian commented. “Besides, even if someone is offered a place, he cannot choose the house in which he resides. House assignments depend on one’s social status and the like-mindedness of one’s personality.”

Ciel sighed. “I know, I know. But where am I to find someone possessing both the status and wealth that will guarantee his assignment to the scarlet fox house, which allows only the noblest of bloodlines…and will be permitted to enroll as a special exception even if there are no vacanc—“ 

A realization suddenly struck Ciel and Sebastian. 

“I’ve just thought of someone, but I absolutely, positively do not want to send for him…!!” Ciel groaned. 

“However he is indeed a rather special individual who satisfies all those conditions.” 

“ _UUUHRRNNN…_ ” he groaned. “Damn…needs must when the devil drives, I suppose. I’ll take advantage of anything I can use.” 

Later that night Ciel and McMillan talked about the reason he missed the p4 meeting. McMillan promised to help prove his story right by gathering other witnesses to come forward. 

And Ciel’s plan began into action.


	7. Confrontation

“A real life Indian prince!” Elizabeth squealed at the sight of the elephant and dancers. 

“Wow! You don’t see that everyday!” Sieglinde commented. 

“Isn’t it amazing, Ciel?!” Elizabeth turned to her friend standing at her left. 

“It…sure is something…!” ‘He made it into red house, alright, but isn’t an elephant and parade a bit much?’ 

“Do you think we’ll be able to meet him?” 

“Lizzy, you’ll be outcasted if you mingle too much with other houses.” Sieglinde warned. 

“But what a once in a lifetime opportunity we’d be wasting!” 

“Honestly, I think Sieglinde is righ—“ 

“Heeey!! Ciel!! I’ve come for you!!” The Indian prince yelled in their direction. 

“Did he just call out your name?” 

‘!!!’ “Hey let’s get to class…!” Ciel turned around and hurried away, leaving Lizzy and Sieglinde to follow behind. 

“I was surprised to receive a letter from you out of the blue! If you’d told me you would be lonely here, I could have come with you, silly!” 

Ciel kept walking away at a fast pace. ‘That idiot! I insisted he treat me as a perfect stranger!’ 

“Ciel hold on! I think he’s talking to you!” Elizabeth rushed to keep up. 

“Cieeeel~? Heeey! Are you listening to me?”

‘Nope, nope.’ Ciel kept walking. 

Soma began to grow impatient. He snapped his fingers and Ciel was grabbed by the elephant’s trunk and lifted into the air. 

“UWAAA!” 

“Kya-! Ciel!” Elizabeth called after him. 

“Why don’t we go together?!” Soma smiled and waved at his friend. 

“Enough with your jokes-!! Put me down at once, you!!” Ciel yelled. “I-I knew I shouldn’t have sent for yooou—!!!” 

“Darn, we’ll be late. C’mon, let’s run for it!”

“UWAH! You idiot! St-stopppp-!!” 

Elizabeth and Sieglinde watched in stunned surprise. 

“I guess we’ll catch up to him in class?” Sieglinde commented to her friend. 

“I guess…” Elizabeth agreed. 

Sebastian walked on to class with perfect indifference to the situation. 

—-

Soma did his job perfectly. Following around Maurice without break and annoying the absolute shit out of him while observing his every move. And thanks to a freak accident with an elephant, he even got to observe Maurice through the whole night. He caught Maurice right in the act of delivering a small rose shaped card to another student. 

Soma went to report back to Ciel his findings.

“Welcome Prince Soma, the young master awaits you within.” 

Soma shrieked. “I thought we weren’t supposed to bring our butlers!”

“Let’s just say he has a very good reason for being here.” 

Sebastian loomed over Soma with a threatening aura. “I pray you won’t reveal that I’m the young masters butler to everyone. Should you let this fact slip…” 

“I-I-I-I-I won’t!” Soma shrunk in fear. 

“Have you discovered anything?” Ciel asked. 

“Oh, yes! I caught him secretly posting rose-shaped cards to other red house students. And soooo many of them too!”

“Cards? Why, he’d be better off just talking to them face to face, what a bashful fellow he is.” Sebastian commented. 

“It seems we finally have a lead on some evidence. Now to decide the best method of making it up to him.” 

A thought struck Soma at that moment. “Oh! And one more thing…”

He revealed a shocking bit of information. 

“Young master…!” 

“Now all the pieces have fallen into place.” He turned to Soma. “Thank you, I could not have done it without your help.” 

“You can count on me anytime! See you later!” He ran off back to red house.

“Now, time for a strategy. We’ll settle this tomorrow.”

—-

Ciel called Maurice to the third art room. 

“Well? What is it you want with me? I really must be getting to the swan gazebo.” Maurice crossed his arms. 

“I won’t take too much of your time. I simply had something to confirm.” He narrowed his eyes. “Regarding your summoning of me the other day, it seems you conveyed the message wrong after all.” 

“You’re still saying that? It isn’t respectable at all to blame others for your faults.” 

“A friend of mine confirmed it with other students. Since you’re so popular, the onlookers were many. 18 students testified that you ‘mistakenly’ said 4p.m.” He grinned. “But to call it a slip of the tongue is false in and of itself. Because you let your tongue slip on purpose.”

He proceeded to bring up the four other students who missed their appointments at the swan gazebo due to ‘communication troubles’. 

“For a Prefects fag to cut down on the weak as you have just shows what a sly coward you are! You’re actions are those of a liar! You even leave your fag duties to other students.” 

“Whatever do you mean?” 

“Compiling data, clothes washing and ironing, even the preparing of food, you haven’t done any of it yourself! Your competence is an utter sham!” Ciel pointed his finger in accusation. 

“What fanciful claims. How can you say all this without any proof?” 

“But I do have proof.” 

He revealed the taped together rose shaped card. 

“That’s!!” 

“Heh, do you recognize this? It’s one of the cards you use to commission other students to do your work.” Ciel littered cards on the floor from his pocket. “The request for the data compiling, for washing and ironing, for snack preparing—shall I go on? I’ve got many more.” 

“And even after I made a point of telling them to dispose of the cards!” 

“Oh they followed your instructions. It really is a relief that the garbage hadn’t been collected yet. Such trouble it was unearthing these tiny cards from the pile of rubbish from the whole school—”

“Wha?!” 

“And carefully restoring them from the small pieces they were torn into.” He frowned. “What would Redmond think if he found out about all of this? You should be ashamed as a student of Weston middle and high school! I can look over your deception of me and the other students, but you should come clean about your actions to Redmond. Yours is a brotherly relationship built on trust, right?” 

“Yes you’re right…I’ll tell him—absolutely nothing! Who the hell would?!” 

He snapped and in came boys who were apparently just waiting outside the door. They grabbed Ciel and held him down. 

“You didn’t think I’d come unprepared did you?” One of the boys handed him a box of matches. 

How convenient it was that one of these boys would have a box of matches when they didn’t even know they’d need it.

Maurice lit the cards on fire. The fire alarms didn’t sound for some reason because plot convenience. 

“There we go, evidence destroyed. And after you went through all that trouble, such a pity.” 

Really it was no trouble at all for Ciel, he just had Sebastian do it. 

“You irritate me! Who the hell do you think you are, getting all smug just because the prefect’s have taken a liking to you. Making use of others is a talent too you know,” Of course Ciel would know this, He was particularly good at it too, “and I’m particularly good at making use of the plain students. I the most attractive boy at this school—!” 

Ciel glared at Maurice. 

“Whether or not I become a prefect can make or break my future. And that’s why I’ve flattered and fawned over the prefects within an inch of my life.” He glared down at Ciel. “You, a winner with a title, could never understand the feelings of a second son, who will never be in a position to inherit!” 

Lol

“I don’t believe there’s any value obtained in deceit.” Honestly Ciel being able to get those words out of his mouth with a straight face is an amazing feat. 

“Your good boy act makes me sick!” Maurice yelled, revealing conveniently kept scissors in his bag 

“I will be the next prefect of red house, and I will be the one Redmond loves best!! And I am the most beautiful boy in this school!!!” Maurice somehow managed to tear ciel’s shirt and sweater in half in one fell swoop. 

“What are you—?!” Ciel was kicked in the abdomen and had the wind knocked out of him. 

“You’re really such a fool for picking a deserted place like this! No one will come to your rescue you know.” He took out his phone and opened the camera application. “Now then, time to take some pictures.” He placed the scissors on Ciel’s chest. “The kind so embarrassing you’ll want to die!” He turned to the boys holding down Ciel. “All right, do it.” 

They covered his mouth and began ripping off Ciel’s clothing. 

“Augh—! Nn, p-please stop!” 

“What the hell is this, you lot?!” Greenhill and Edward came smashing in with cricket bats. 

Greenhill smacked all the boys off Ciel with his bat. 

Maurice fell to his knees. 

“You’ll pay dearly for making me break my vow of nonviolence, Cole!” 

“Please, Greenhill! Don’t tell Redmond!!” Maurice begged. 

“Do you not want us to keep silent as well?” 

“Bluewer! Violet! What are you doing here?!” Maurice gaped in horror. 

“Upon hearing of talented Maurice Cole’s violent actions, it’d be strange of them not to rush over here.” Ciel stood up. 

“But the swan gazebo is well away from here! And I made sure to disable the school security cameras in this room ahead of time!” 

“How lucky we are to be in the age of technology, and to be rich enough to afford a couple iPads that can FaceTime over WiFi.” He pulled a hidden iPad from behind a painting. “And how convenient that you can mute the incoming audio while still letting the outgoing audio go through just like a one-way mirror—they can hear us, but we can’t hear them.” 

“No, no, NOOOO!!” Maurice cried. 

“Let’s unmute the audio and see what Redmond has to say about all of this, hm?” Ciel tapped on the mute button. And pointed the ipad towards Maurice. 

“I’ve heard everything.” Redmond said.

“Red…mond…” 

“To think even you betrayed me. I’m ashamed for being such a poor judge of character.”

“N-no…”

“I don’t want to hear your excuses. You are a great disappointment. Cole, I hereby severe my brotherly ties with you.” 

Maurice fell to his knees once again, screaming in despair. 

Ciel took a handkerchief from his breast pocket and walked over to Maurice. “Cole, if you face everyone with honesty from now on I’m sure you’ll be able to regain their trust.”

“Phantomhive…” 

“And to help with that,” he revealed the photograph folded in the handkerchief. “I’ve made sure to reveal your true face to everyone.” 

Outside, pictures of Maurice doing his makeup littered the school grounds. 

Maurice freaked out once he saw the image. He basically made the sound equivalent of a keyboard smash. 

“You can be proud of yourself, I think.” Ciel hummed. “Your skill with makeup is the real thing.” 

“Ciel…” Edward walked over, “I’m sorry for falsely accusing you.” He bowed. “Please forgive me.” 

“Whatever the reason, I was late. There’s no need to apologize.” Ciel responded. 

“I’m also sorry for grabbing you by the collar the other day…I freaked out when I saw a boy holding my sisters hand. Just never touch her again, ever, anywhere, ever again, and everything will be fine.” 

‘She’s the one that keeps touching me…!’ Ciel thought.

At least he got an apology. 

“I didn’t take you for such a man of action.” Greenhill commented. 

“You’re…really quite entertaining.” Violet agreed. 

Bluewer ruffled Ciel’s hair. “You’re deeds were brave. There’s a good lad, well done.” He rubbed Ciel’s head in acknowledgment, as if he were a puppy. 

“Thank you…when I discovered there was others like me that had suffered by Cole’s hand, I couldn’t let it go. I’ve never been one to condone such wrongdoing.” Ciel gave a wide smile. 

“Heeding tradition. Being without dishonesty. Remaining pure and noble of heart. That’s what it takes to be a student of Weston!” Greenhill exclaimed. 

—-

Ciel and Sebastian were talking in an empty classroom. 

“Finally that’s over.” Ciel sighed. 

“Indeed.” 

Running came from down the hall and Elizabeth burst into the room. 

“Ciel—! There you are!” She rushed inside. “Once I heard what had happened, I just had to come check on you!” 

“I’ll be leaving now. Please lock up the classroom when you’re finished.” Sebastian exited, leaving the two alone. 

“I can’t believe you took such measures to reveal Cole! I was shocked when I heard the story from Edward. Are you alright?” She fussed over him as if she were checking for injuries. 

“I’m fine. It’s nothing to worry about.” He brushed her off. 

“Oh, I must’ve lost Sieglinde on the way here. I was running pretty fast, I’ll have to apologize later.” Elizabeth turned back to Ciel. “You’re really brave, you know. Revealing Cole like that and standing up for all those kids…” 

Ciel detected slight hesitation in her tone. “You sound like you’re skirting around something.” 

“Well…” She paused. “Were you the one that spread all those pictures of Cole around the school…?” 

Ciel crossed his arms. “So you noticed I got my revenge, is that what you’re getting at?” 

She hesitated. “When Sieglinde saw it, she laughed so hard I thought she’d pass out. But I couldn’t help but feel bad for him. Was it really necessary to go that far? Isn’t it a bit much?” 

“He started this by ruining my reputation. I only returned the favor.” 

“But isn’t revenge a hollow victory?” 

“What? No. Who told you that? Revenge is great.” He scoffed lightly. ‘She’s too pure.’ 

Elizabeth sighed. “I suppose it’s not my place to say anything further. In any case, I’m glad you’re alright.” She smiled. 

“Gah! Finally I found you guys!” Sieglinde sputtered and panted as she wheeled herself in. “Don’t go so fast, Lizzy! I’m in a wheelchair, I can’t keep up! My arms are gelatin because of you.” 

“Ah Sieglinde I’m so sorry! I’ll push you back to the dorms.” Elizabeth promised. 

“Yeah, you better!” Sieglinde huffed. 

“See you later, Ciel! I’m glad you’re okay!” 

“Yeah, laters, Tiny Pirate.” Sieglinde gave Ciel a salute. 

And with that, Elizabeth and Sieglinde left, leaving Ciel alone in the empty classroom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally the 7 chapters are up! Oh and also the scenes from the manga will be adapted to the modern era, like Ciel using an iPad instead of strings.
> 
> I think Lizzy would be a tad uncomfortable with Ciel getting revenge like that. She doesn’t seem like the type to condone that sort of thing. But she also knows it isn’t really her place to lecture Ciel on morals and such so she lets it slide. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	8. Shower Thoughts

“You’ve really taken a liking to Ciel, haven’t you?” Sieglinde asked Elizabeth, tipping her head back to let Elizabeth wash her hair. 

“Yep.” Elizabeth hummed. “I’m going to rinse now, close your eyes.” 

Sieglinde followed her instructions and Elizabeth positioned the shower nozzle to run down her hair. “What do you like so much about him?” She asked. 

“Well, he’s interesting.” 

“The same vague response you used for me?” Sieglinde sighed. 

Elizabeth began rubbing conditioner into her friend’s black hair. “I don’t really know. I just knew I wanted to get closer to him. Also he’s super cute.” She giggled. 

“And me? Am I cute?” Sieglinde put on her best ‘cute face’. 

“Very cute!” Lizzy laughed. “Now wash your body.” 

“You know, you could always-”

“I’m not going to wash you. I still have my own shower to take anyway. And I can’t skip a shower in the morning.” 

“I still can’t believe your mom makes you wake up so early to exercise so hard.” Sieglinde commented, taking a washcloth. 

Elizabeth adjusted the towel wrapped around her body and grabbed the shampoo bottle. “It’s not Mother that makes me wake up so early. I wake up early so that no one sees me exercising.”

“But still. You were even late the first day because of it.” 

“It’s the price I pay for being in blue house. If I were in green house, they’d have me do daily exercises. But since I’m not, Mother has me on my own intensive workout regimen. It’s my own fault, I really can’t complain about it.” 

“I guess…” Sieglinde sighed. “Why does she make you train so hard anyway?” 

“She always tells me it’s for my future husband, but she’s really vague when she says it so I’m not sure what she means.” 

“Dear god, your poor future husband. I get that your dad fell in love by getting beaten to the ground with a sword but I don’t think every man is like that.” 

“I doubt Mother meant it like that.” 

“What if you get a wife? What happens then?” 

Elizabeth paused. “I don’t know. I think I’m straight, anyway.” 

“No way.” Sieglinde scoffed. “But that’s just the opinion of me, and your collection of Saber figurines.” 

Elizabeth sighed. “Your logic is flawed…but alright.” 

They finished up and Elizabeth helped Sieglinde walk out of the shower. 

Sieglinde toweled off and shook her head dry like a dog. Elizabeth shielded herself from the water droplets flying through the air. 

Elizabeth walked to the sink and looked into the mirror. “Sieglinde! Why’s there a picture of Maurice Cole taped to the bathroom mirror?” 

“So that you have someone to aspire to when you’re doing makeup.” Sieglinde giggled. 

“It’s not funny!” Elizabeth took the photo and threw it in the trash. “It’s just mean.” 

“Jeez, you’re literally the only one that’s taking this seriously. You have too much empathy.” 

“Is that supposed to be a bad thing?” 

“You cried when you read Don Quixote.” 

“It’s so sad! He actually thought the windmill was a dragon! And he gets beaten up all the time!” 

“You sob like a baby when reading the American news.” 

“They have a lot of problems!”

“They have a giant orange peanut parading around as a world leader! It’s goddamn hilarious! And you still haven’t deleted Mystic Messenger despite it taking up like 3 gigs on your phone.” 

“Everyone went on about some crazy reset theory and I just couldn’t do that to my baby!” 

“He’s fictional.” 

“Stop reminding me that boys like him don’t exist in real life!” 

It then occurred to Sieglinde that Elizabeth’s type might the the ‘neurotic genius with a dirty job’ type. ‘My god…is this more foreshadowing?’ “Anyway the thing with Maurice was hilarious, end of story.” 

Elizabeth groaned. She looked at her phone and gasped. “It’s almost breakfast!” 

Sieglinde finished changing into her uniform. “I’ll get going. You finish up your million step skincare, hair, and makeup routine.” 

Now That Sieglinde was off the slippery tile, she was able to walk with a crutch. She managed to get into her wheelchair and put on her shoes, then set off for the dining hall. 

—-

Ciel and McMillon sat together at their table. 

“I still think it’s amazing you’ve become Clayton’s fag!” McMillon said. 

“Thanks.” 

Sieglinde wheeled over to the table. “Cieellll!!” 

“Wha-? Sieglinde it’s breakfast!” 

“I know but Lizzy is late and I’m lonelyyyy!!” She groaned. 

“Why’s she so late?” 

“She’s still getting ready. Our shower ran a bit long.” 

“ _Argh_ —fine.” Ciel relented. 

Sieglinde situated herself at the table. “So, What do boys talk about when they’re alone?” She gave a suggestive grin. 

McMillon looked uncomfortable. “We were talking about how Ciel became Clayton’s fag…” 

Sieglinde scoffed lightly. “No, no I want to hear the real things that are on an adolescent boy’s mind.” She leaned in a bit closer to McMillan. “You know what I’m talking about.” She winked. 

McMillan’s face flushed. 

“Sieglinde, Stop bothering him.” Ciel instructed. 

“Oh come on, it’s natural for adolescent boys to have dirty thoughts! It’s nothing to be ashamed of.” 

“We’re not _ashamed_ , we just know what’s _appropriate._ ” Ciel growled out. 

“So you’re admitting you have dirty thoughts?” 

Ciel facepalmed. 

“Just tell me— _ow!_ ” 

Elizabeth bopped Sieglinde over the head. “Down girl!” She turned to the boys. “I’m so sorry I was late. I’ll take her away.” Elizabeth grabbed onto Sieglinde's wheelchair and wheeled her away. 

McMillan let out a sigh of relief. “Sieglinde sort of scares me.”

“Sieglinde? She’s harmless. Just kind of…annoying.” Ciel shrugged. 

“Anyway, you’re going to go to the swan gazebo later, right?” McMillan asked excitedly. 

“Ah, yeah. They invited me again.” 

“You’re so lucky!” 

Breakfast went on uneventfully until fag time. 

—-

At the swan gazebo, Ciel learned of an upcoming cricket tournament on the fourth of June. 

It was then he also learned outsiders were allowed onto campus at the evening celebrations prior to, and after the tournament. 

“I can’t say I’m glad about my kid sister coming to visit though.” Cheslock commented. “She’ll be a handful, I’m sure.” 

“I myself have two elder sisters. Though they’re quite calm.” Harcourt turned to Bluewer. “Bluewer, you have several sisters, don’t you?” 

“Ah, yes, I do.” Bluewer answered. 

“How many do you have altogether?” 

Bluewer sighed. “Three elder sisters and four younger ones.” 

“Wow…” Ciel and Harcourt said at the same time. 

“Just one is noisy enough for me.” Cheslock added. 

“My little sister is graceful and sensible, so she’s never any trouble.” Edward chimed in. 

‘Who in the name of hell are you talking about…?’ Ciel thought to himself. 

“Heh, you seem rather close to Midford’s sister too, eh Phantomhive?” Cheslock asked Ciel. 

“Eh, uh, she’s a friend of mine.” Ciel answered. 

“Oh come on, don’t be shy. I saw you holding her hand the other day.” Cheslock grinned. 

“Eh?!” Ciel flushed. 

“Cheslock!” Edward yelled at him angrily. 

“Well, Phantomhive is quite a cutie pie. It’s only natural he’d be popular with the ladies. Though I wasn’t expecting it to be so intimate already. How far has you gone with her?” Redmond added. 

“R-R-R-Redmond!!” Edward wore an astonished look on his face. 

“N-No it’s really not like that! We’re just friends.” Ciel tried to explain. 

“Oh come on. You’re a lad, surely it can’t be ‘just friends’.” Cheslock teased. 

Edward grabbed Cheslock by his jacket. “Lizzy is a sweet, innocent angel! She’d never get intimate with a stranger like him!!” 

‘Haah, how ridiculous. Schoolchildren are the same everywhere.’ Ciel sighed. 

The conversation went on and Ciel decided to use this opportunity to ask about Derrick.

The prefect’s reactions were strange, while their fags seemed completely normal. 

He tried pressing them a little more. 

“In Derrick’s letters he mentioned he was in red house, so I was surprised upon my arrival that he’d transferred to purple house.” 

“It took some time for us to notice his true personality, you see.” Bluewer said. 

“He was my fag for a time as well.” Redmond added. 

“Quite.” Said Greenhill. “He was certainly talented, however…” 

He was peculiar at the very least.” Violet said. 

‘Peculiar? The letter I received from the Queen said nothing of the sort.’ Ciel thought. 

When he asked what Derrick’s talent was to get him entered into purple house, he was met with four different answers. This confused him greatly. 

“In any case, it was the headmaster’s decision to transfer him.” Redmond said. 

Greenhill added to that. “No order from the headmaster is ever wrong.” 

“And,” came Bluewer, “the headmaster’s decision is absolute!” 

They tried to change the subject. 

‘No matter how much you chalk it up to tradition, for them to not even know the reason, and taking into account their reaction at derrick’s name…I have no doubt they’re attempting to conceal something.’ Ciel concluded. “I’ll arouse suspicion if I hound them further. I’ll drop the matter here.” 

And the conversation ended.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally we get some time alone with Lizzy. This story is going to mainly be told from Ciel’s perspective, so there hasn’t been much of that. There’s a lot to her in this fic so I’m excited for when it’s all revealed.


	9. Families

Ciel asked McMillan and was told about the other transfers to purple house. When he asked why they aren’t curious of the other houses, he received a strange response. 

“Well, I mean, it was the headmaster’s decision and all?” 

When he asked other boys of Derrick Arden he was one again met with many different answers. A great runner, a dance expert, a prize winning painter, an expert at transcribing texts—no one gave the same profile of Arden. 

And when asked why, they all gave the same chilling response. 

“Who knows,” they’d say, “it was the headmaster’s decision, right?” 

—-

It was late at night and Ciel was in Sebastian’s office for ‘tutoring’. 

“Argh!” Ciel griped. “I can’t get a definitive read on Arden, everyone says something different about him! And none of them harbor suspicions simply because it was the headmaster’s decision!” 

“How many have you asked?” Sebastian asked, listening while grading papers. 

“At least eight boys that I know.” He scoffed. “A school for the elite my ass. They’re worse than sheep in a pasture.” 

“8 boys, hm?” Sebastian thought a moment. “Have you tried asking the girl always following you?” 

“What makes you think she’s any different?” Ciel crosses his arms. 

“Just try and see what happens.” Sebastian smiled. 

—-

(The next day at lunch) 

Ciel and Elizabeth sat next to one another on the dining hall table. Ciel turned to Elizabeth. 

“Hey, I was wondering if you know anything about a childhood friend of mine, Derrick Arden?” He asked. 

“Derrick Arden? He was in red house wasn’t he? If I’m remembering correctly he was a poet.” 

“Do you happen to know why he was transferred to purple house?” 

Elizabeth wracked her brain for an answer. “Hm, I’m not sure. I’m almost always up to date on school news, but I don’t know anything about that situation. Want me to ask some of my friends? They’re always up for a good bit of gossip.” 

Ciel stared in surprise for a moment. ‘Sebastian was right, it was the gossip hungry _females_ I should’ve been asking all along!’ 

“That’d be great, if you could.” He replied. 

“Alright, I’ll be sure to ask them later.” Elizabeth smiles, she was happy to have been of some use. 

“Hey Ciel,” Sieglinde began. “I read in a book that Phantomhive is an earldom. Lizzy’s apart of the peerage, too. Her father’s a marquess!” 

“And?” Ciel replied, disinterested. 

“Oh, I just wanted to point out that Lizzy has higher social status than you.” 

Ciel groaned. “The peerage is practically arbitrary by now anyway. The titles don’t really matter anymore.” 

“Well, that’s true, but ⅓ of the land in Britain is still owned by the aristocracy, so you can’t say they’ve become totally irrelevant.” Elizabeth chimed in. “Plus, the reason the aristocracy is no longer in the public eye is because they’re laying low so people don’t realize they’re evading taxes with special privilege.” 

“Both of those things are true, but I wasn’t expecting you to know that last part.” Ciel commented. 

“Mother told me!” Elizabeth chirped. 

“Her mother knows everything. She’s a really sharp lady. She was a real big-shot in the military for a while.” Sieglinde added. 

“You’re mother was in the military?” Ciel asked Elizabeth. 

“Yeah, both my mother and father were in the military. My mother left to raise me and Edward. My father’s still a part of the military so we don’t get to see him as often. He’s also head of the Order of the Garter.” Elizabeth explained. 

“Really?” Ciel hadn’t realized Midford was such a prestigious family. ‘I’ll have to refresh my memory my of noble houses.’ “If you’re family is that prestigious, shouldn’t you be in red house?” 

“Oh, that was the one house my mother said I could absolutely _not_ be a part of. She _hates_ gaudy people that give in to lavish desires.” 

“She’s super strict!” Sieglinde added. “Quite a fearsome lady.” 

“Enough about my family, tell me about yours!” Elizabeth turned to Ciel. 

Sieglinde coughed a little, already knowing the answer. 

“I don’t have a family.” Ciel replied calmly. 

Elizabeth flushed. “I’m so sorry to hear that…I didn’t mean to…”

“It’s fine. It was a long time ago anyway.” 

She paused. “If you don’t mind me asking, who’s the earl of Phantomhive?” 

“I am. I’m the Earl of Phantomhive.” 

“Eh?!” Elizabeth gaped. “Hold on, I heard Funtom was owned by the Phantomhive family—”

“I’m also the head executive of Funtom.” 

“EH?! At this age, you run a business and an earldom?!” 

Ciel nodded. 

She stared in reply. “That’s—that’s amazing!!” She grabbed Ciel’s shoulders. “Ciel, you’re really amazing!!” 

Ciel blushed. “C-Calm down.” 

“But it’s so cool!” She believed every word of it, given that she knew Sieglinde had quite an impossible job herself. “I knew there was something unique about you at first glance, but I didn’t think you were this awesome!” 

“It’s not that big of a deal. Would you mind letting go?” 

Elizabeth blushed at getting so overexcited and let go of his shoulders. “Sorry!” 

“Let’s talk about something else. How about Sieglinde’s family?” He redirected the question to anything but him, despite very well knowing Sieglinde’s situation. 

Elizabeth went still. “Maybe we should talk about something else…um, the food is really good today!” 

Ciel noticed Lizzy’s reaction to the question. ‘Just how much has Sieglinde told her about her life?’ He wondered. He might have to ask her later. 

“It’s fine, Lizzy. I have all the family I need in my butler Wolfram. And in my friends!” She gave Lizzy a tight squeeze. 

Lizzy giggled in response to the hug. She was glad her friend was content with her current life. She was worried it would’ve been a sensitive topic for her. 

Lunch went on normally after that. 

—-

The next day, Ciel and Lizzy sat in geoscience class. It was one of their elective classes, Lizzy only having took it to be with Sieglinde. 

Speaking of the dark-haired German girl, she was nowhere to be seen today. That was because it happened to be a Friday, and Sieglinde was at work at her job as a royal scientist. 

“Today I’ll be assigning a group project. You’re to work in pairs of two to right a paper on the celestial bodies. Please go ahead and choose your partner—“ 

“CIEL WANT TO BE PARTNERS WITH ME?!!” Lizzy called out loudly in his direction. 

Ciel blushed at the sudden commotion. 

“Miss Midford, I’d like to ask you to refrain from interrupting.” 

“Sorry, I just had to ask before anyone else did…” She eyed McMillan quietly. The distance between the two was much shorter, seeing as McMillan only needed to turn 90 degrees to the left to ask. 

Sebastian sighed. “Alright.” He turned his attention back for the class. “The paper is due on Wednesday so you’ll likely need to work on it over the weekend. I’d advise that you exchange contact information. Please _quietly_ choose your partners.” 

Lizzy now got up and walked to Ciel. “Can we be partners pleeease? Sieglinde isn’t here and I don’t want to be alone.” 

“F-fine. God, don’t do that again.” 

“Sorry. Come on, come sit with me!” She dragged Ciel to the empty seat next to her. They sat down and took out their school assigned laptops to begin researching. 

“We should probably exchange contact information like Mr. Michaelis said.” Elizabeth took out her phone. 

They swapped phones so they could input each other’s number. 

“I’ll also give you Sieglinde’s contact.” She put in Sieglinde’s number and sent a message through Ciel’s phone. 

Ciel: Hi Sie-chan! This is me messaging you on Ciel’s phone so you can get his number. Luv you! Love, Lizzy (heart emoji). 

She then realized she used the nickname she gave Sieglinde. ‘I hope Ciel doesn’t notice. That’d be really embarrassing.’ 

“What?! Why would you give her my number! What if she sends weird things?!” Ciel snatched back his phone. 

“Sieglinde isn’t like that. She has a strange sense of humor but she’d never do something without consent.” 

Ciel sighed. “Alright.” He figured Lizzy must know her pretty well and that he didn’t need to worry too much. “Let’s start researching. Maybe we should do research separately over the weekend and combine it when we come back on Monday?” 

“I’ll do you one better! Let’s visit the planetarium over the weekend!” 

“Eh? But it’s so short notice…” He thought about it and realized he didn’t have any business meetings on Saturday. “Well, maybe on Saturday we could…” 

“That sounds great! How’s Saturday in the early afternoon?” 

“Alright, I guess that’s fine.” 

“It sounds like so much fun! I’m excited!” She chirped in glee. 

They spent the rest of class researching. 

—-

Ciel was back in his manor once again. 

“Sebastian, double check I have nothing scheduled on Saturday.” 

“You’re free. I checked once I overheard you and Miss Midford schedule a date at the planetarium.” Sebastian responded. 

“Date?!” Ciel flushed red. “It’s not a date! We’re going for research!” 

“Of course, young master.” Sebastian smirked. “But this begs one question—what will you wear?” 

“I don’t intend to dress up for this correspondence.” 

“That’s exactly what I mean. Your attire is mainly business and business casual. It’d be strange to wear such clothing to an informal event. You wish to blend in, do you not?” 

“Well, I suppose…” 

“Let is call Miss Hopkins and inquire about what attire is appropriate for the occasion.” 

So they did, and Nina was there in a matter of hours. 

She burst in with her usual flair and, after fondling Meyrin, started informing Ciel on casual modern attire. 

“Well, teenage modern attire is rather boring nowadays, but I’ll see what I can do.” 

She showed him hoodies, sweaters, sweater vests, button ups, jackets, and many other things. 

“So, What kind of date are you dressing up for?” Nina asked, pinning fabric together.

“It’s not a date! We’re just going for a research project.” Ciel blushed. 

“Hold still. I’m busy tacking.” Nina reprimanded. “Where are you going then, for this research project?” 

“The planetarium.” He answered. 

“I see. Well, I wish you luck.” 

Nina was finished with the outfit by nighttime, and had multiple other outfits lined up to finish later and ship back to them. 

Ciel was exhausted by the time it was all over. 

“Finally. Sebastian, prepare me something sweet and fruity. I need something refreshing so I can get back to work.” 

“If you have too many sweets before bedtime you’ll get cavities.” Sebastian warned. 

“What is this, the Victorian era? Toothpaste exists. Now go make me something sweet.” Ciel huffed. 

He sighed. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.


	10. Chapter 10

Ciel and Sebastian pulled up into the planetarium parking lot. They were an hour early. 

“We need to make sure Lizzy doesn’t see you. Let’s go pay for admission quickly then you leave.” Ciel stepped out of the car. 

“We have nothing to worry about, Miss Elizabeth won’t be here for another hour.” Sebastian followed suit. “Anyway I’ve gone to pick you up many times and so far no student has recognized me.” 

They walked towards the ticket booth until they heard a voice beside them.

“Ciel? Mr. Michaelis…?” Elizabeth was sitting outside the planetarium. She took out her earbuds and walked towards them. 

Sebastian And Ciel stood stunned. ‘The hell is she doing here?!’ 

“L-Lizzy!” He cleared his throat and composed himself. “You’re wrong, this is my butler Sebastian.” 

“Hello my lady.” Sebastian greeted with a smile. 

Elizabeth looked him up and down. “What’s his last name?” She finally asked. 

The two went silent. 

“What’s Mr. Michaelis’s first name?” 

More silence. 

Elizabeth sighed. “It really is Mr. Michaelis isn’t it?” 

“Lizzy, promise me you won’t tell anybody.” Ciel walked over to her. 

“I promise. I won’t say anything if it’s that big of a secret.” She answered. Elizabeth turned to Sebastian. “How are you doing today Mr. Michaelis?” 

“I’m but a mere butler in this setting, my lady. Please just call me Sebastian outside of school.” 

“Okeydoke, Sebastian.” She turned back to Ciel. “What are you doing here so early?” 

“We came early so you wouldn’t see Sebastian. Why are _you_ so early?” 

“My mother dropped me off.” Elizabeth said, as if that explained everything. 

“And?” 

“She’s always early. I figured I’d just wait for you outside until you got here. Oh, but I haven’t gone in yet, I wanted to wait for you.” 

“How long have you been waiting?” Ciel asked out of curiosity.

“Two hours so far. I’m glad you came early, I’d have to wait an extra hour if you hadn’t.” 

‘She was going to wait three hours? That’s ridiculous! Oh whatever, I’m glad she’s not asking questions about Sebastian. She’s taking it rather well.’ Ciel thought. 

“I already bought your ticket! Come on, let’s go!” Elizabeth grabbed Ciel by the arm and began dragging him inside. 

“I’ll be waiting outside in the car once you’re ready to leave.” Sebastian called after them. 

Elizabeth dragged Ciel inside by his arm and they were immediately met with rows of exhibits. 

“We have about an hour until the next showing, let’s look around a bit.” Elizabeth grinned. 

They walked down the aisles and examined the objects inside the glass boxes. 

They came to a large sectioned off area covered in red sand with a few machines inside. 

“That’s what a mars rover looks like.” Elizabeth eyed the machine with wonder. 

“There’s a controller over here, I think you can move it.” Ciel moved around the joystick and watched the rover wheel back and forth. 

“Wow! Do it again Ciel!” 

“There’s another controller next to you.” 

Elizabeth grabbed the controller and started moving a different rover. “Wow! It’s like a video game!” 

Ciel agreed. He’d manufactured multiple video games in his time and was quite familiar with the operating systems. 

They played with it until Elizabeth eventually got bored and ran to the next interesting thing. 

“A model spaceship!” She looked through the glass. “And here’s a model observatory, and here’s a model telescope.” She turned to Ciel. “They’re so small isn’t it just adorable?!” 

“Eh—sure.” He didn’t think that them being smaller made much difference, they were still just objects. 

They happened upon the kid area of the planetarium where they had a playing gym. 

“Look, Ciel! A slide!” She began walking towards it. 

“Lizzy, no, it’s for kids.”

“You’re telling me to look at this slide and not go down it?” 

“Yes, that’s exactly what I’m telling you.” 

Elizabeth huffed, crossing her arms and puffing out her cheeks. She shifted her feet in impatience. She really did try to resist it, but the slide was beckoning her and she couldn’t ignore it. 

“I’ll be right back!” She declared and ran off in the direction of the kid area. 

“Lizzy! Ugh.” Ciel rubbed his temple. He walked to the mouth of the slide and waited. 

Soon, Elizabeth came sliding down. 

“Was it everything you hoped it would be?” Ciel asked, sarcastically. 

“Everything and more!” She giggled. 

They kept walking around and found a wall covered in infographics. 

“Look, these are maps of the constellations.” She looked each one. “This doesn’t look like a crab at all…” 

“I don’t think any of the constellations actually resemble what they’re supposed to depict.” 

“Eh? That’s so weird.” She looked at the rest. “Gemini sort of does. Look, it kind of looks like two people holding hands.” 

“Huh, I guess it does.” 

“You can read all the histories of them, too. Gemini mean ‘twins’ in Latin. The story behind it is of Castor and Pollux. They were identical twins born to Leda, the queen of Sparta, from two different fathers.” Elizabeth read. 

“Well that’s just unrealistic, if they were identical twins they’d have matching DNA, they couldn’t have had two fathers.” Ciel pointed out. 

“It says here that one of the fathers was a god, if that makes it any more realistic. Castor was the mortal son of King Tyndareus and Pollux was the immortal son of Zeus. Zeus seduced Leda while disguised as a swan???” She said the last part in astonishment. 

“Why would you seduce a woman as a swan? No, wait, how the _hell_ do you get seduced by a swan?” 

“I don’t want to think about it, _ew._ ” She cringed a bit. “Anyways, Tyndareus’s half brother also had twins, Idas and Lynceus. The two sets of twins made enemies of each other when Castor and Pollux kidnapped and had sons with the women their cousins were betrothed to.” 

“Well that’s just plain rape.” 

“Ancient Greece was a weird time.” She paused then resumed the story. “A fight broke out among the two over stealing a bunch of cattle and Idas killed Castor with a spear. Pollux killed Lynceus but was wounded, and when Idas went to finish him off, Zeus intervened and killed him. Pollux was devastated at Castor’s death and begged not to outlive his brother. Zeus granted his wish and let Pollux share half his immortality with his brother. The two were then put into the stars, where they could be together forever. Aw, isn’t that romantic?” 

“I’m still stuck on the whole ‘seduced by a swan’ thing.” Ciel answered. 

“You have no eye for romance.” Elizabeth huffed, only half meaning it. “Anyway let’s look at the others!” 

The two of them reviewed the history of each constellation. Ciel pointed out all the flaws in logic and weird quirks in the tales, and Lizzy laughed at the particularly strange parts. They eventually had to leave to catch the show. 

The seats were comfortable and made to recline. The building had a large, dome-shaped ceiling and a weird round projector in the middle. 

Then suddenly, the beautiful night sky was projected right above them. Stars were beautifully speckled all over the ceiling, it really felt like they were staring at the heavens outside, in an area where light pollution was nonexistent. 

It was much more breathtaking than Ciel had anticipated. At that moment, he realized he’d never truly seen the night sky in all his life, since he lived in a big city. He realized Lizzy must’ve never seen it either, and wondered idly if she was as awe-inspired as he. 

They began talking about the rise of the heliocentric system, then about the sun itself and its place in the universe. ‘The sun looks so violent up close…’ It was a strange thought that something that gave birth to life on Earth could be so overwhelming and dangerous. It’s light was bright and beautiful, but it had its own fiery bite to it. 

They began talking about each of the planets and their individual characteristics. He was captivated by the high resolution visuals depicted on the screen above them. 

Then celestial objects of ice and dust appeared on the screen, painting it in purple and azure. ‘Colors like that exist in space? All I’ve ever seen is black.’ 

Lizzy was as amazed as Ciel was with the visuals, but also captivated by the information given on the celestial objects they described with such great detail. She wasn’t like Sieglinde, obsessed with gaining new knowledge. But she was a very curious girl, and had a knack for all things aesthetic, whether that be dancing, poetry, or embroidery. The heavens were practically art in itself, and were wonderfully pretty. 

Nebulae, neutron stars, galaxies—they were so very beautiful. 

Then she learned of stellar clusters. ‘Stars form in groups rather than existing alone. Maybe stars get lonely just like humans. Even stars know it isn’t good to be all alone.’ 

She loved the supernova remnants just as much. ‘It’s weird that chemicals can look so pretty. They’re the remnants of dead stars right? If Sieglinde were here, she’d probably comment on the potential beauty of death or something equally philosophical. I do find that stuff fascinating, but it’s not cute at all.’ People would think her weird for having such deep thoughts, so she largely tried to keep her mind lovely and shallow. 

Ciel noticed the violence behind the beauty of galaxies in the form of collisions. ‘Even pretty things are terrible at its core. They destroy each other just like humans do.’ 

They ended with the Big Bang and the eventual demise of the universe. The beginning and end of existence. 

And finally, the show was over. 

They rose from their seats and exited the theater. 

“That was really cool!” Elizabeth exclaimed, grabbing Ciel's hand as they walked through the door. “Did you like it too?” 

Ciel thought a moment. Had he actually enjoyed the experience? He certainly wasn’t anticipating that. “Yeah. It was interesting.” 

“I’m glad you had fun too. I loved it. Someday, I want to see the real sky, one that’s not clouded with light pollution.” 

“Good luck with that. Sebastian’s waiting outside, we should get going.” 

“Let’s go to your house to put together all our research! I already know your secret with Mr. Michaelis, so it shouldn’t be a problem, right?” 

Ciel sighed. The experience so far wasn’t terrible, and Lizzy was handling the secret with Sebastian pretty well, so he reluctantly agreed. 

“Great! I’ll text my mother and tell her I’ll be a bit late.” 

They met back up with Sebastian and traveled over to Ciel’s manor. 

“Maybe we should’ve taken notes while we were watching.” Ciel commented. 

“Don’t worry! I used the recording app on my phone to record all the audio playing on the screen, we can play it back as much as we need to get our information.” Elizabeth took out her phone and laid it on the table. 

Ciel got out his school assigned laptop and they began gathering all the information they’d learned on the celestial bodies. 

“I only took up geoscience to be with Sieglinde, and since there weren’t any other electives that interested me, but I’m kind of glad I chose to be in it. It’s surprisingly interesting.” 

“I took it up because I couldn’t find anything better. I’ve never been one for the arts. I’m not really interested in things like creative writing and drawing. I already played violin, so I took up orchestra. Geoscience and classical literature were the other two classes that seemed bearable.” 

“I’ve always been good at aesthetic things and creativity. Embroidery is already a hobby of mine, so I took up sewing and fashion design class. I find classic books absolutely enchanting so classical literature class was a must for me.” Elizabeth explained. “Do you have any hobbies of your own?” 

Ciel paused to think. “Not really. I enjoy reading so when I get a break from work I usually engage in that. Does work count as a hobby?” 

“Absolutely not! Hobbies are supposed to be creative outlets to get away from the stress of daily life. It isn’t healthy to not have a hobby.” 

“Hobbies take up time. There’s a saying, ‘time is money,’ and I’ve never been one to waste money.” 

“A practical mindset like that is admirable, but i can’t say I agree with it. Anyway I suppose it’s not my place to judge so I’ll drop it.” 

“You’re pretty good at that.” Ciel commented. 

“At what?”

“Minding your own business. You barely reacted to learning your middle school teacher is actually my butler. And you’ll share your opinion, but you don’t lecture me on things involving my life.” 

“When I feel I need to lecture a friend, it’s only with situations that affect me or my other friends. If it doesn’t involve me, Mother taught me to stay out of it. She taught me to not make quick assumptions about topics I’m ignorant to, and that people have a reason for everything, so I shouldn’t judge until I know that reason.” She rested her jaw on her hand, leaning on the table in front of her. 

“It’s a good quality. Humans have the tendency to judge on assumption, I think it’s respectable to not judge until you understand something. You’re mother seems like a smart woman.” 

Elizabeth smiled. “She is. She’s a very strong and kind woman. I hope I can be as great as her when I grow up.” She hummed in contentment. “I hope you can meet her someday. I think you two would get along.” She paused a minute. “It’s not often that you share your thoughts like that.” 

This confused Ciel greatly. “What do you mean?” 

“Usually you just react to the things me and Sieglinde say, so it was just refreshing to hear you say something on your own. I like hearing you talk, you’re witty and always have something interesting to say.” 

He flushed a bit at the compliments, he really wasn’t expecting her to think of him that way. 

They continued compiling research until Sebastian finally came in with snacks. 

“I thought you two might like some refreshments.” Sebastian wheeled in the cart. 

“Oh my, this all looks lovely!” Elizabeth exclaimed. “Oh, where should I start?” She picked up a pastry and bit into it. “Mmmm! It’s delicious!” 

“I’m unworthy of such praise. Please do enjoy your snack.” 

“It’s about time. I was getting hungry.” Ciel began on a mixed fruit parfait with whipped cream on top. 

“I apologizing for not noticing sooner, young master.” 

“You two are very close, aren’t you?” Elizabeth commented. 

“Please do not insult me in such a way. Sebastian is merely my servant.” 

There was a knock at the front door. 

“Oh my, I think we have a guest.” Sebastian went to open the door.

A certain silver haired man barged in. “Bring me to the brat, I’ve something to deliver to him.” 

“Right away, sir.” Sebastian led him to the room Ciel and Elizabeth currently occupied. 

“I’ve got a love letter for you.” He declared. 

Elizabeth’s eyes went wide with shock, for the man standing before her was one she knew—Earl Charles Grey.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn’t update for a week ahhhh I’m sorry! This chapter ended up longer than I thought it would it’s like 2,500 words lol. Anyway I’ll try to be more frequent with the uploads! 
> 
> Please leave comments, they’re what keeps me going!
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	11. A Surprise Encounter

“I’ve got a love letter for you!” Earl Charles Grey exclaimed, waving around an envelope. 

Elizabeth was in shock. What was the royal butler doing delivering mail to her friend? She took a look at the envelope itself, it had a wax seal that had been stamped by a signet ring. ‘The royal coat of arms…!’ She realized, eyes widening. She saw Ciel turn toward her and she looked down, pretending not to notice anything. 

Ciel accepted the envelope, got out of his seat, and walked over to Sebastian, exchanging hushed words with his butler. 

“Oh, snacks!” Grey ignored all propriety and headed towards the table, immediately partaking in a delightful looking cream puff.

It was then he actually looked down and noticed the girl beside him. He recognized her immediately. 

“Oi, Midf—“ Elizabeth panicked and stomped on Grey’s foot, he never got to finish his sentence. He suppressed the yelp that nearly ensued, like hell was he going to show pain in front of them. 

“Did you say something?” Ciel turned to Grey. 

“Nothing at all.” Grey shook with annoyance. He’d squashed the cream puff in his hand in pain when Elizabeth had stepped on him. ‘That little bitch and her beastly strength.’ He took a napkin and cleaned off his hands. 

“I need to discuss something with Sebastian a while, would you wait in another room?” Ciel asked. 

“I’ll stay where the food is, thank you very much.” 

Ciel looked over to Elizabeth in reluctance. 

“I’ll be fine Ciel,” Elizabeth reassured, “I can keep working while you’re gone.” 

“Alright.” He took Sebastian and they left to his office. 

Grey immediately turned to her in fury. “What the hell was that for?!” 

“Don’t act like you know me in front of my friends!” 

He looked offended. “So being associated with me is that embarrassing, is it?” 

“No, I just don’t want him to know I fence!” 

Grey looked confused. “Is it some sort of secret?” 

“Yes, actually.”

“The five times national juniors champion fencer doesn’t want to be recognized? What a waste. Why the hell is it a secret?” 

“That’s _not_ your business.” Elizabeth pouted in embarrassment, looking away. “Just pretend like you don’t know me, okay?” 

“And if I refuse?” Grey smirked. 

“Charles I’m _begging_ you!” Elizabeth pleaded. 

“Oh-hoh! Begging, hm? Don’t give me too much power, it might go to my head.” 

“And lord knows your head is big enough.” She quipped. 

“Is that any way to talk to someone you’re asking a favor from?” 

She puffed her cheeks out in annoyance. “Fine. _Please_ don’t tell Ciel we know each other.” 

“Alright. But you owe me.” 

“Owe you what?” 

“An d-u-e-l, my dear.” 

“Tch.” He’d been hounding her for a rematch for the past four years over a duel she’d narrowly won. “Fine.” 

Grey chuckled. “It’s settled then! Finally.” 

“Swear you won’t say a word to Ciel.” 

“I swear.” 

Elizabeth exhaled in relief. 

“What’re you doing at that brats house anyway?” Grey asked, biting into a cookie. 

“We’re friends. We go to school together.” 

“Oh right, you go to Weston. How’d you two meet?”

“We’re in the same house.”

Grey laughed. “There’s no way that kid made it into green house.” 

“He didn’t. We’re both in blue house.” 

Grey stared at her in surprise. “They misplaced you by a mile.” 

“I worked very hard to ace the exam to get into blue house.”

“And worked very hard to hold back on the physical to not get into green house.” He added, a hand on his hip. 

“Well…yes. It doesn’t matter. Why are you so curious anyway?” 

“I was just wondering why anyone would voluntarily spend their time with that brat.” 

“Don’t be mean to Ciel. He’s a good person. I like him a lot and I want to be better friends with him.” 

Grey cringed. “Ew.” 

Elizabeth huffed. “Stop being rude.” 

Meanwhile, while Grey and Elizabeth bickered, Ciel sat in his office talking to Sebastian. 

“Disappearing children is much more urgent than our current mission.” 

“Shall we put Weston on pause for a few weeks to investigate?” Sebastian asked. 

“We’ve no choice. Damn, two missions at once. How annoying. Why does this entire story center on annoying me?” 

“Don’t break the fourth wall, young master, it’s unbecoming.” 

“I’ll do what I want. Anyway, let’s investigate the circus issue next week. For now, get things set up with the administration to have a few weeks off. You take your vacation days and we can just say I fell ill or something.” 

“Yes, my lord.” 

Ciel got out of his chair and walked back to the room Elizabeth and Grey were in. 

“Oi! You’ve got yourself a very cute girlfriend haven’t you~?” Grey hollered when the door opened. 

“Eh?” Ciel was taken aback. “It’s not like that! She isn’t my girlfriend!” 

“I do so apologize for interrupting your date.” He mocked. 

“We were only doing a school project.” Elizabeth tried, embarrassed. “We went to the planetarium to gather research for geoscience.” 

“Hmmm the planetarium, eh? Really, what an old fashioned place to have a date. But I suppose that has a charm of its own.” 

“It wasn’t a date!” Ciel interjected, face fully red at this point. 

“No need to be so embarrassed. I’ll get going so I don’t interrupt anything further. Oh I wonder how she’ll react when i tell Her her dear boy has gotten a girl of his very own.” Grey made to leave. 

“Don’t you dare tell Her anything of the sort. 

‘Her?’ Elizabeth wondered. 

“Bye-Bye, now!” And with that, Grey left. 

Ciel was still flushed from the interaction. “I apologize for that, Lizzy.” 

“It’s alright. Who was he, anyway?” 

“Just a colleague. It’s getting late, shouldn’t you be heading home soon?” 

Elizabeth checked her phone to find that it was already 5 o’clock. “I’ll message Mother.” She looked back at Ciel. “I’m glad we got some good work done today! We can finish up on Monday!” 

She packed up her belongings and waited for her mother’s car to pull up. When it finally did, she gave Ciel a hug goodbye and left. 

“I need a nap.” Ciel said as he climbed the stairs. “I’m exhausted.” 

“Did you at least have a good time, my lord?” 

“Are you joking? As if I’d have a good time entertaining a silly girl all day.” He plopped down onto his bed. “I’ll take a quick nap and do my work after. And Sebastian…”

“Yes, young lord?” 

“Get us two tickets to the circus for next week.” 

“Yes my lord.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A surprise visit from Charles Grey! I’m a major GreyLizzy shipper so this was fun to write. They’ll actually have a duel later on in the story and it becomes quite important to the plot. 
> 
> We see Lizzy acting slightly different around Grey than she would Ciel or someone else. I write her that way because she’d usually act proper out of politeness, and Grey is just annoying enough to make her not want to be so polite. She doesn’t feel the need to put up as many cute barriers because she doesn’t care about his opinion of her. I think their dynamic would be an interesting one since she’d probably let more of her Phantomhive intellect and strength shine through. She’s not a genius gamemaster like Ciel, but I’m sure she took after Frances in being perceptive and a quick-thinker. I personally think she would be a great wife Queen’s Watchdog and she’s more cut out to the world than Ciel thinks, even though she’s very just and innocent. 
> 
> Anyway, I’ll try to update faster. I reallllyyy love this story so it’s something I work on frequently too. I’ve got lots of things planned out for it and things will get a little more romantic in the future. There’s going to be a very specific turning point to their relationship so I hope everyone sticks around to see it. I’m particularly excited to write that scene lol.


	12. Birthday Surprise

Elizabeth ran all around her home kitchen. It was currently 11 o'clock at night. 

“My lady, do you need some help?” Paula inquired. She was worried that it was getting so late. 

“No,” She replied, “I have to do this on my own.” 

Elizabeth kept mixing the bowl of batter, pausing occasionally to rest her tired arm. She had many bowls sitting on the kitchen counter and some baking tools here and there. 

She poured the last bowl of batter into the cupcake tin. Elizabeth exhaled in relief. ‘Now onto the baking.’ She picked up the tin and put it in the oven. 

She wiped a bit of sweat off her brow. She was becoming exhausted. But she was sure it’d all pay off in the end. ‘I’ll take a break for now and decorate the cupcakes when they come out of the oven.’ 

She yawned and walked to the living room, throwing herself onto the couch and snuggling into a throw pillow. 

“I’ll give him the best birthday surprise ever…!” She whispered. 

—-

Elizabeth came in late that Monday morning, and not from the window this time. She was escorted in by Clayton who reprimanded her then left to his own studies. She held two large plastic bags by her side and walked with them to her desk. 

She noticed Ciel seemed oddly indifferent today, even more so than usual. She’d thought that, like most other people, Ciel would be excited on his birthday. Alas, here he was, going about class in an unfeeling autopilot. 

Ciel was dead tired. He’d had a night terror the night before and had gotten no sleep. How long had it been since he had an actual night terror like that? He was no stranger to normal nightmares, but he hadn’t had a sleep disrupted in that manner in at least a year. 

When lunch finally came, Elizabeth approached Ciel in the cafeteria with her bags in hand. “Ciel~! I brought a surprise~” 

“Hm? A surprise?” He responded. 

Elizabeth presented the bags to him cheerily. 

“What’s this?” He took them from her. 

“Open it and find out!”

He opened the bags and removed their contents. One bag had a plastic cupcake box with a dozen cupcakes lined up and the other was filled with other sweets like brownies and lemon bars. 

“What’s all this…?” 

“It’s for you! Happy birthday, Ciel!” Elizabeth smiled. 

“How did…how’d you know…?” He looked at her in confusion. He’d never told her his birthday. 

“Well, every time I make a new friend, I sneak into the classroom after school and find the student documents so I can input everyone’s birthdays onto my phone calendar. I’ve never been caught before…until this year. Mr. Michaelis found me sneaking around the room and asked me what I was looking for. I was so scared that I’d get in trouble but instead he was super helpful and helped me find the documents. He offered me other documents too, but I told him only needed your birthday. It was so strange since I never even had to explain why I was there, he just helped me find what I needed!” Elizabeth explained. 

‘Sebastian…! What were you hoping she’d do with those documents…!!!’ “I see…” He looked down at the sweets laid in front of him. “Did you buy these?” 

“Nope. I made them all myself! I didn’t know what you liked so I made I bunch of stuff. Each cupcake is a different flavor, and I also made cookies, tarts, and lemon bars.” 

“You made every single one of these by hand? Each individual recipe?” He asked in astonishment. 

“Yep! I wanted to make you a big surprise on your birthday! I love, love, love giving gifts!” 

“It’s true. She did something extravagant on my last birthday too.” Sieglinde attested. 

“I don’t know what to say…uh, thank you?” Ciel was surprised, to say the least. 

“Go on, eat something!” Elizabeth urged. 

Ciel grabbed a chocolate cupcake and lifted it to his mouth, taking a bite. The cake was sweet, and the frosting sweeter. It was pretty good, not the best in the world, and Ciel had certainly had better sweets made by Sebastian, but it was good. Something about the imperfection of it made it feel special; it was undeniably homemade. 

“It’s good.” He said finally. Ciel took a swig of water to wash the dessert down. 

Elizabeth grinned broadly. “I’m glad you like it.” She was glad she’d done a good job. 

“Can I have some?” Sieglinde asked, eyeing the red velvet cupcake with hungry eyes. 

“Knock yourself out.” Ciel answered and Sieglinde dig into the cupcake. He turned to Lizzy. “You should have one too. You made them, after all.” 

Elizabeth tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear. “Maybe just one.” She was on a strict diet from her mother, but one cupcake wouldn’t hurt. She grabbed the lemon one and took a small bite. She always ate cleanly and like a lady, just as her mother taught her. Elizabeth couldn’t help but laugh when she saw Sieglinde’s face covering in white frosting. 

Sieglinde reached over and grabbed a brownie, having just finished her cupcake. “These are really good.” She said in between bites. 

“Don’t talk with your mouth full, you’ll choke.” Elizabeth reprimanded lightheartedly. 

“I think they want some too.” Sieglinde pointed at McMillan and his friends staring enviously at the desserts. 

“You’re free to have some. I can’t eat all of this on my own.” Ciel told them. They eagerly came and joined in, grabbing their own cupcakes and tarts. They laughed and wished Ciel a happy birthday. 

“Sorry I didn’t know sooner. I would’ve gotten you a gift.” McMillan apologized. 

“I didn’t tell you. I don’t really like big birthday celebrations much. I was surprised that Lizzy found out. No need to apologize.” Ciel replied. 

“I wish we had candles to do a proper birthday celebration. We should still sing for you though!” Said Lizzy. “Happy birthday to you—“ 

Everyone joined in and sang along. Sieglinde was especially enthusiastic during the song. They cheered and clapped Ciel on the back once finished. 

Ciel honestly didn’t know how to feel about all this. It was a bit tiresome, but not bad overall. And he was both perplexed and appreciative of Elizabeth’s kind gesture. 

And best of all, the night terror was completely out of his head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhhh I’m being slow with updates >~< I promise I’ll try to get chapters out faster. Next we’ll be entering the circus arc. i’ll be summarizing some things from the manga and most of the Watchdog stuff will happen behind the scenes. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
